Bitcoin breaks through $68,000, US spot Bitcoin ETFs add 32,370 BTC this week
The 12 US spot Bitcoin ETFs have set a new record high for total net asset value since their launch in January. These funds currently hold Bitcoin worth over $66.1 billion, exceeding the previous record of $62.6 billion set in early June.
The value held by the ETFs accounts for 4.89% of Bitcoin's total market capitalization. These funds experienced their best week of inflows since early March, with over $2.1 billion in inflows, the fourth-best week on record, and have seen inflows for six consecutive days.
The recent rise in Bitcoin prices has also helped these funds reach new highs; Bitcoin's price has risen about 12% since October 10, reaching over $68,000 currently, boosting the value of each ETF.
Since the close on October 10 (the last recorded day of net outflows), the total value of Bitcoin held by these funds has increased by about $11 billion. Among them, BlackRock's IBIT saw its asset value increase by over $3 billion during this period, making it the single fund with the largest gain.
BlackRock CEO: Bitcoin itself is an asset class, discussing its allocation with global institutions
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas shared the full quote from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on Bitcoin/digital assets during the Q3 earnings call. Fink stated that Bitcoin as an asset class itself, and they are discussing the allocation issue with global institutions, these assets remind him of the early stages of the mortgage-backed securities market (currently $11 trillion in market cap). Furthermore, the US President will not have a substantive impact on this. I believe the application of this form of investment will extend to the role of Ethereum, as blockchain can grow significantly.
Aspen Digital: 94% of Asia's private wealth has invested or is considering investing in cryptocurrencies
A new report from Aspen Digital shows that interest in cryptocurrencies among Asia's private wealth is growing significantly. The survey found that 76% of Asia's private wealth has already exposure to digital assets, and another 18% plan to invest in the future, totaling a staggering 94%. The report surveyed 80 family offices and high-net-worth individuals in Asia, with most of the respondents managing assets between $10 million and $500 million. This represents a significant increase from the 58% of respondents who had exposure to digital assets in 2022. With the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US and Hong Kong, 53% of respondents are gaining cryptocurrency exposure through funds or ETFs.
a16z Crypto reports that global cryptocurrency activity and usage have reached an all-time high
a16z Crypto has released a report stating that global cryptocurrency activity and usage have reached an all-time high. The report shows that as of September this year, there are approximately 617 million global cryptocurrency holders, with 60 million monthly active users, of which the US accounts for 12% of global mobile wallet users. Additionally, the value growth through Ethereum Layer 2 has increased by 36%, while transaction fees have decreased by 94%. The report also notes that since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in the US in January, its cumulative trading volume has reached $437.6 billion.
Worldcoin announces rebranding to World Network, and its Layer2 network World Chain has launched on mainnet
According to The Block, the digital identity project supported by Sam Altman, Worldcoin, is rebranding to World Network, abbreviated as World. Coinciding with the rebranding, the project has announced that its Layer2 network, World Chain, has launched on the mainnet. World Chain is a second-layer blockchain network connected to the project and secured by Ethereum. Optimism, Alchemy, Uniswap, Safe, Dune, and Etherscan will support the launch of this blockchain. The blockchain is built using the OP Stack, and World Network states that user transactions account for 44% of OP Mainnet activity, making it the largest application on the network. World wrote in the press release: "As the project scales and the importance of the World ID human protocol proof grows, the 'Worldcoin' name can no longer encompass the mission to accelerate the development of every person. With World Chain, World ID and Worldcoin as its three pillars, World has truly built a network composed of real, verified humans, aiming to realize an optimistic future where humans remain at the center of AI progress."
The US SEC has officially appealed the court's ruling in its lawsuit against Ripple over XRP
According to Bitcoin.com, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially appealed the court's ruling in its lawsuit against Ripple over XRP. On Thursday, the regulator filed a notice of appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In this case, the SEC is the plaintiff and appellant, with the defendants being Ripple Labs Inc. and its top executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen. The SEC's initial lawsuit alleged that Ripple and its leaders offered and sold XRP without the necessary registration, violating the Securities Act of 1933. In the appeal, the SEC is objecting to several key rulings. It is challenging the court's conclusion that Ripple's sales of XRP on digital asset platforms were not considered unregistered securities, as well as the decision that Garlinghouse and Larsen's personal XRP sales did not violate securities laws. The SEC also objects to the ruling that Ripple's distribution of XRP in exchange for services did not violate the Securities Act of 1933.
On July 13, 2023, Ripple achieved a partial victory when the court ruled that the sales of XRP on digital trading platforms were not considered securities. However, the court found that Ripple's sales of XRP to institutional investors were unregistered securities. Additionally, the court ruled that Garlinghouse and Larsen's personal XRP sales did not constitute illegal activity. On August 7, the court issued a final judgment, requiring Ripple to pay a $12.5 million civil penalty and prohibiting the company from further violating the Securities Act.
Vitalik discusses the future development of the Ethereum protocol in "The Surge"
Vitalik has published a new article on the future development of the Ethereum protocol (Part 2: The Surge), with the following key goals: Achieve 100,000+ TPS on L1+L2; Maintain the decentralization and robustness of L1; At least some L2s fully inherit Ethereum's core properties (trustless, open, censorship-resistant); Maximum interoperability between L2s, so that Ethereum should be an ecosystem, not 34 different blockchains. The article states that the current task is to complete the rollup-centric roadmap and solve the related issues, while maintaining the robustness and decentralization of Ethereum L1.
Monochrome to launch Australia's first Ethereum spot ETF on Cboe
Monochrome Asset Management is preparing to launch Australia's first Ethereum spot ETF, IETH, on Cboe, which will begin trading on Monday. The fund is described as the world's first to offer physical Ethereum subscription and redemption. Previously in June, Monochrome Asset Management launched Australia's first Bitcoin spot ETF, IBTC, on Cboe Australia.
Radiant Capital suffers a cyber attack, losing over $50 million
In the early hours of October 17, the cross-chain lending protocol Radiant Capital was hit by a cyber attack, resulting in losses exceeding $50 million. Radiant was controlled by a multi-signature wallet (known as "multisig"), and reportedly, the attackers were able to gain control of the private keys of multiple signatories, then taking control of several smart contracts. Arkham data shows that the suspected perpetrator's wallet holds over $32 million in Arbitrum-based assets and approximately $18 million in BNB Chain tokens.
According to Twitter user @danielvf's analysis, the hacking incident that Radiant Capital encountered was carried out by the attacker planting malware on the computers of multiple team members, which induced the hardware wallets to sign a malicious transferOwnership() operation, transferring control of the lending pool to the attacker. The attacker then deployed the transferFrom code to continuously steal funds from the users' authorized accounts. There are no signs that the hardware wallets themselves were compromised, and the preliminary judgment is that the signature requests were intercepted and replaced on the team members' computers. The complexity of this attack far exceeds that of a typical attack, involving malware, hardware wallet interception software, smart contract writing, understanding of the organizational structure and signing process, as well as the attacker's preparation of a money laundering and exit plan. To prevent such attacks, users are advised to strengthen time locks and governance processes, and immediately stop signing and investigate if there are any abnormal signatures (such as signatures generated on the hardware wallet that are not visible to other signers in the Gnosis Safe).
Radiant Capital officially responded to the hacking incident on Twitter, stating that they are working closely with Seal911 and Hypernative, and have implemented stronger multi-signature control measures. Meanwhile, the FBI and ZeroShadow have fully engaged in this security incident and are actively working to freeze all stolen assets. The official recommendations to prevent such attacks include: multi-layer signature verification, independent verification devices, enhanced Ledger/Trezor security, error trigger audits, and manual inspection of transaction payloads.
Tether: USDT Adds 36.25 Million Users in Q3, Setting a Quarterly Record
As of the third quarter of 2024, the number of USDT wallets and accounts has reached 330 million, approaching the total population of the United States. This figure does not include the tens of millions of users using USDT on centralized platforms. Over the past year, the number of USDT users has continued to grow at an average rate of 9%, with 36.25 million new users added in the third quarter, setting a quarterly record. The growth is mainly driven by applications on multiple chains such as Tron, Binance Smart Chain, and Ethereum, especially Layer 2 chains like Optimism and Arbitrum, as well as the recently added TON and Celo platforms.
Additionally, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced that the company is exploring opportunities in the commodities trading and traditional finance (TradFi) sectors. As these businesses will be operated through a separate Tether investment division, they will not impact the reserves of the stablecoin. Tether has already discussed opportunities for US dollar lending with several companies in the commodities sector.
Trump-Backed DeFi Project World Liberty Financial's Public Sale Fares Poorly
The public sale of the DeFi project World Liberty Financial, which is supported by former US Republican presidential candidate Trump, has only sold 638 million WLFI tokens as of this Wednesday, accounting for just 3.2%. At a public sale price of $0.015, this amounts to $95.7 million. According to The Block, the website experienced multiple intermittent outages during the token sale launch. According to the roadmap shared with potential investors, the initial WLFI sale was planned to raise $300 million, selling 20% of the token supply, with a total valuation of $1.5 billion.
The Trump family's crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLF), has released a 13-page document detailing the project's mission and token allocation plan. The document shows that the Trump family will receive 75% of the project's net profits, without bearing any liability. The document emphasizes that Trump and his family members are not directors, employees, managers, or operators of WLF or its affiliates, and states that the project and token "are not associated with any political activity." According to the document, the Delaware-based company DT Marks DEFI LLC, which is associated with Trump, will receive 75% of the net protocol revenue. The Trump family will receive 22.5 billion WLFI tokens (approximately $337.5 million). The remaining 25% of the net protocol revenue will go to the Puerto Rico-based Axiom Management Group (AMG), which is fully owned by the project's co-founders Chase Herro and Zachary Folkman. AMG has agreed to allocate half of its revenue rights to a company associated with Trump's friend and political donor, Steve Witkoff, and some of his family members.
Tesla Transfers All of Its Bitcoin Reserves to Multiple New Addresses
According to on-chain data tracked by Arkham Research, Tesla has transferred 11,509 bitcoins (worth approximately $770 million) to new addresses, which appears to be the company's entire Bitcoin reserve.
These transfers were made within the past hour, and prior to the token transfers, Tesla conducted six test transactions, which is the first time Tesla has interacted with its Bitcoin wallets since the company sold most of its assets in 2022.
The company invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in February 2021, and it is currently unclear what the purpose of the transfers is, with some in the community speculating that the company may be preparing to sell. Tesla is scheduled to report its third-quarter financial results after the market close on October 23.
Pump.Fun Plans to Launch a Token in the Future
Pump.fun has announced the launch of a new advanced trading terminal called Pump Advanced, and has revealed plans to launch a token in the X space. The main views of Pump Advanced include charts, top holder statistics, advanced filters, real-time update threads, and other features aimed at attracting Pump.fun's power users. The website also allows users to log in through the Privy identity verification platform, use non-custodial wallets, and will charge 0% fees for at least the first 30 days, with future fees to be announced.
Montenegro Court Suspends Do Kwon's Extradition Again Ahead of Appeal Ruling
The Constitutional Court of Montenegro suspended the extradition of Terraform Labs' former CEO Do Kwon on October 18. The day before, the Montenegrin Ministry of Justice had stated that it had made a decision on Kwon's extradition and promised to announce the decision on October 20. However, the court said it would suspend the extradition procedure until a ruling is made on Do Kwon's appeal.
Game Developer FractureLabs Sues Jump Trading for Alleged Token Price Manipulation
Video game developer FractureLabs has filed a lawsuit against the prominent cryptocurrency market maker Jump Trading in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, accusing it of fraud and deception through the manipulation of the DIO token price. FractureLabs had planned to initially offer the DIO token on the Huobi (now renamed HTX) exchange in 2021 to raise funds. The company hired Jump Trading as the market maker for DIO and lent it 10 million tokens, while sending 6 million tokens to HTX for the sale. The lawsuit alleges that Jump Trading systematically liquidated its DIO holdings, causing the token price to plummet to around $0.005, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for itself. Jump later repurchased around $53,000 worth of tokens at a steep discount and returned them to FractureLabs before terminating the market-making agreement.
Hong Kong Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address Mentions Multiple Virtual Asset Initiatives
Section 99 of the Hong Kong Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address states: Promoting the application of cross-border payment using Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC); Enhancing the regulation of virtual asset over-the-counter trading - the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau will complete the second round of consultation on the regulation of virtual asset over-the-counter trading, and submit the proposed licensing regime for virtual asset custodian service providers; Promoting the tokenization of real-world assets and the digital currency ecosystem; Promoting the development of the digital securities market, encouraging more financial institutions and issuers to adopt tokenization technology in capital market transactions; Submitting legislation within this year, together with the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, to regulate the issuance of fiat-linked stablecoins.
Recommended Reading This Week
Wang Feng's Essay: On the Ups and Downs of Deep Learning Pioneer Hinton, the Nobel Prize, and the Tribulations of Great Scientists
Jeffrey Hinton, widely recognized as the "father of deep learning" in the field of artificial intelligence, laid the foundation for the development of modern artificial intelligence with his backpropagation algorithm. However, his academic and professional career has been full of twists and turns, from Cambridge to Edinburgh, experiencing multiple career transformations before finally focusing on artificial intelligence. Hinton's youthful quest for knowledge is reminiscent of the fairy tale character Pinocchio - a naive and curious wooden puppet who yearns to become a "real boy", just as Hinton has dedicated his life to making artificial intelligence a reality.
Are the new coins on the five major exchanges a complete failure? Analysis of the opportunities and risks of altcoins under liquidity depletion
This article analyzes the profit performance of new coins on the five major exchanges (Binance, OKX, Upbit, Bybit, Coinbase) within a month, and finds that most new coins have performed poorly, with investors often paying the price for the early investors' withdrawal. In contrast, mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have shown stable performance, attracting more funds. Investors need to be wary of low-circulation projects, focus on the fundamentals of the project and token economics, in order to stand firm in the high-risk cryptocurrency market.
10,000-fold surge in five days: In-depth review of $GOAT's journey to a $300 million market cap
On October 16, the meme coin $GOAT's market cap exceeded $300 million, with a single-day increase of 100%, and an increase of over 10,000 times in five days. The AI trader @truth_terminal, through generating a large number of tweets and interacting with the community, has changed the traditional promotion model of meme coins. AI is not affected by emotions and can automatically adjust the content to control the market atmosphere, causing the price of $GOAT to soar. This is a technology-driven market experiment, witnessing the rise of AI trading.
Bitcoin dances alone, MEME coins celebrate: Galaxy releases Q3 crypto venture capital report
In the third quarter of 2024, crypto startups received $2.4 billion in venture capital, most of which involved infrastructure, gaming and DeFi projects. The United States remains the dominant player in the crypto venture capital field, but new fund-raising amounts are lower. Although cryptocurrency prices have risen, investor interest in crypto venture capital has declined, leading to a four-year low in the number of new funds and the amount of funds raised. Bitcoin ETFs may put pressure on funds and startups, and policymakers should be aware that their actions may impact the development of the industry.
Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum and L2 will achieve over 100K TPS through "The Surge"
In the next step of his roadmap, "The Surge", Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has set a goal of achieving over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) on the Ethereum mainnet and Layer 2 blockchains, as well as improving interoperability. He emphasizes that Ethereum should become a unified ecosystem, and points out the need to solve key issues such as data availability, data compression and user experience. In addition, Buterin proposes to expand the Ethereum base layer by adjusting gas pricing, without sacrificing decentralization.
Public chain battle: Interpreting the on-chain data and investment logic of ETH, SOL, SUI, APT, BNB, TON
The public chain landscape is changing, with Ethereum still dominating but high fees affecting the user experience, Solana being the star of high-frequency transactions and Non-Fungible Tokens, BNB attracting exchange users, the rapid rise of the Ton chain, and SUI and Aptos catching up quickly. Each public chain has a unique user base and metrics that affect token prices. Through on-chain data analysis, Solana attracts high-frequency trading users, Ethereum remains the preferred choice for DeFi, BNB and Ton chain are popular. SUI and Aptos' low-cost attract users, with SUI leading in daily active addresses. Investors can judge whether the price of public chain tokens is reasonable through indicators such as NVA ratio and TVL.
